By Ashley Sim
KUCHING, April 18: Many obstacles arose during Lo Khere Chiang’s tenure as chairman of the Padawan Municipal Council (MPP), but one of the most significant was the difficulty of securing sufficient funding.
In an exclusive interview today with DayakDaily at its office here, the former MPP chairman said, “Money is always an issue, and despite the fact that we have built many drains and roads, the ‘rakyat’ (people) continue to demand more.”
“I guess this is normal for any government of the day, so no matter how good you are, you still have to try your best to meet the people’s expectations,” he said.
He also mentioned that the RM22 million in funds provided by the Federal government through the Malaysian Road Records Information System (Marris) each year to repair roads and drains was insufficient.
“This is one of the challenges that I faced, but we still did our best to accommodate,” he added.
Lo, who is also Batu Kitang assemblyman, expressed gratitude to Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg for granting RM5 million in funding for the Rural Transformation Project (RTP) to each assemblyman and member of parliament (MP).
“Apart from the RM22 million in funds that MPP has used to repair roads within its jurisdiction, I, together with all the assemblymen and MPs, made use of our RM5 million RTP fund to carry out projects on the ground, which are projects that our people want and projects that affect the livelihood of our people.
“MPP currently has six assemblymen and three MPs, for a total of nine. So, thankfully, we have RM45 million in RTP funds per year to carry out all of these projects,” he disclosed.
He went on to say that the RTP fund is not just for MPP, but it also has to be shared with the Sarawak Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID), the Sarawak Public Works Department (JKR), the Sarawak Land and Survey Department, among others.
“This is because all of these departments assist us in carrying out the projects.
“So, while we have the RM45 million RTP fund, we must use it wisely and distribute it among all of the departments that are relevant and helpful to us in implementing all of these projects. So, thankfully, we have RTP to assist us today,” he added. — DayakDaily
